Resident Evil 0, first went into development at the Capcom HQ, all the way back in the N64 days, and even then it was a Nintendo exclusive and eventually got scrapped; only to return some years without news or coverage, on the Gamecube. The first impression of any Resident Evil game, is it's presentation, due to the fact that you usually get about two FMV cutscenes to get through before the actual gameplay begins; and the quality of which, have been considered to be of the finest quality ever made, even rivaling scenes seen in the Final Fantasy series. While the FMV stand out with outstanding perfection, the main real time graphics are lacking slighty in comparison to the picture quality of Resident Evil, although what it doesn't make up for in picture quality, it certainly does in attention to detail; the pre-rendered backgrounds are extremely well done and have subtle touches to them, such as bottles moving and various animations to give the game a more realistic look; unlike the first Resident Evil on the Gamecube, when a window is open, the curtains will flap! What also stands out in comparison of the two, is the animation; while Rebecca and Billy's models are almost identical to Chris and Jill's in Resident Evil 1, the enemies have far superior and fresh designs. Although you do come acorss the basic zombie and zombie dog here and there, what you should really admire is the Leech-life forms. Whether they are in a man/zombie like form, with stretching arms and limbs that know no bounds to any sort of bone structure, or in a the actual slimey worm/leech forms that seem to get everywhere and had me scratching myself while watching them slowly slither there way up the character's torsos and then onto their faces. The gameplay is the biggest change from the usual Resident Evil formula; although it still maintains the scheme used in nearly all of the other games (I.e. pressing forward to walk, holding R to aim and A to shoot etc...), it has been spiced up a little with the inclusion of having the possibilities of two characters at once, enabling you to trade weapons and supplies, get back-up when against enemies, and solve the more complicated puzzles, it sounds like more maintanence at first, but you soon realise to appreciate the new feature as in the world of Resident Evil; its always nice to know, someones got your back! The main gameplay has been improved in the areas that the remake wasn't and should've; the enemies are more repsonsive to your attacks, and it seems like more of a fair fight, rather than a chore to survive! Thankfully they've scraped the super-zombies and took a more survival action approach, which better suits the enemies and situations you'll face. For those of you ignorant of the setting of this addition, I would just like to add that the entire duration of the game is not based on the train; after an hour or so you move on to maybe not as an innovative level, but still as creepy and well designed as ever; the training facility. The sound is very good, with traditional library Resident Evil sounds, such as zombie groans and S.T.A.R.S's handguns, mixed with new ones as well to add some flavour to the otherwise old meal, and theres also some fantastic music as well. After a year from the release of the remake, it would have been worth the wait if you saved your money for this addition; it mixes the old formula with some new twists that the remake failed to do so on. There's definately more value for your money here, with lots of replay value and some extras in there too. The story is well constructed and maintained throughout the game, and is very statisfying when you finally find out what happened, how the virus was released and the mystery behind Billy. The graphics are well polished and provide a new era of design for pre-rendered structures (while they last), the gameplay is as solid as ever and goes further to offer you more, and patch up on those little annoyances of the past, but not all of them. The overall package was worth the wait and is worthy of every Resident Evil fan's collection, and most over gamer's attention. It will not satisfy everyone's tastes, but for those that it does; will be in for a truly terrifying, exhilirating and satisfying experience on the Gamecube, let alone out of the other Resident Evil games; "All it's cracked up to be!"
In 1996 Capcom changed gaming forever when the release Resident Evil for the Playstation, the story of how Alpha team entered the Spencer Mansion only to find that their compatriots had already been all but obliterated b... Read Full Review
I started playing Resident Evil in the way a lot of people did: Resident Evil 4. It was the first game of the series that took a turn for the accessible, abandoning the infamous tank controls (which I now adore, to be ... Read Full Review
